Tales from the Virtual Pet Toy
Tales from the Virtual Pet Toy is a 1998 exploitation survival horror film and cult classic that was written, directed and produced by Chester Novell Turner. The movie was originally released straight to VHS and was given a DVD release in 2016 through Tattletail Video. Plot The film takes place from December 20–25, 1998. The viewer (portrayed by Chester Novell Turner himself) wakes up on December 20 to open their Christmas present early. The present is the new fad toy, Talking Tattletail. After playing with the toy briefly (which involves feeding and grooming while charging it periodically), the viewer puts it back in its box and goes back to bed. The next night the viewer finds the same Tattletail in the tumble dryer, with no indication of how they got there. On Night 3, the viewer encounters the contents of an old nursery in the basement. In the corner sits the now-recalled Mama Tattletail, along with a cassette tape which can be played using the toy. The tape contains a snippet from a story in a read-along style, including prompts to "turn the page", about how "the children thought that Mama would never find them as long as she couldn't see them" but Mama found them nevertheless. After finding the Baby Tattletail, it asks to be taken to Mama. The viewer returns to the spot only to find that Mama has disappeared. During each of the remaining nights leading up to Christmas Day, the viewer is awakened by Tattletail's mounting mischief and demands, including a game of hide-and-seek with a yellow Baby Talking Tattletail. All the while, Mama Tattletail hunts down the viewer relentlessly. On Night 3, after a lengthy hide-and-seek session with another Baby Tattletail, the viewer finds a VHS tape; it shows several interchangeable camera feeds from what can only be assumed to be a Tattletail commercial (which is actually footage from the trailer). After some time, some of the camera feeds' names turn red, the lighting changes from blue to green, and trash bags and obscured parts of inanimate or writhing human bodies appear. On Christmas Eve, Baby Tattletail invites the viewer to the basement to join a "party" with a yellow and blue baby talking Tattletail, and two more that the player must fetch. After the viewer gets those, they must get some supplies from upstairs, such as lights, cupcakes and candles. The viewer then finds out that the Talking Tattletails made a pentagram out of the Christmas lights with the VHS tape in the middle, and have begun chanting in what seems to be a seance. After rewinding the VHS tape, Mama appears and steals the candles, and the viewer must find them in vases scattered around the basement. Once the seance reaches its climax, the tape begins to levitate, at which point the viewer must destroy it. The seance ends, and the viewer can go back to bed. On Christmas Day, the viewer collects all 22 eggs, then they open their gift on Christmas Day, which is revealed to be the same Baby Talking Tattletail the viewer retrieved when opening their present early. The Talking Tattletail will then proceed to give the viewer a series of gifts such as its birth tag and a golden flashlight. The player will then need to open the door of their mother's room and wake her up, which triggers a white screen. The film ends with the Talking Tattletail saying "Thank you", along with the viewer's mother yawning, rolling the credits. Category:Tattletail Category:Exploitation films Category:Horror films Category:1998 films Category:Erry Vision Films